# Date: 1914-09

("EUROPEAN WAR AND EUROPEAN SOCIALISM"
35

57 Apparently, here Lenin has in mind Haase's speech at a session of
the Reichstag, which he compares to a trumpet call to war, which serves
as a signal for definite actions.

58 Lenin refers here to an unsigned editorial "Silence, eunuchs!" in No. 21
of *Golosa* from October 6, 1914. The editorial cites a text from a note by
Hervé in *Guerro Sociale*, protesting against "idle chatter in favor of peace."
The author of the editorial believes that "Hervé in his blindness is unable to
understand the full tragedy of German social democracy, which would have
compromised itself in the eyes of the broad popular masses if it had, in Germany,
pressed by Russian troops from the east, sounded the cry of revolutionary
commune."

68 With respect to the war, the Swedish social democrats watered down their
antimilitarist position by publishing a manifesto to the Swedish people, worked
out at the IX party congress (in early August 1914), with a call for international
solidarity in the struggle against war.

An internationalist position was taken by the so-called group of "youth,"
headed by Höglund. This group subsequently participated in the Zimmerwald
Conference, aligning with the Zimmerwald "Left."

60 Lenin has in mind an article by Zibordi in *Avanti* from September 2,
1914. This article Lenin cites in detail in his note: "The European War and
International Socialism" (see the pamphlet: "V. I. Lenin. New Articles and
Letters Not Included in the 2nd Edition of Works, GIZ. 1930," p. 5). On the
position of Italian socialists with respect to the war, see also Lenin's Works,
Vol. XVIII, note 40, p. 429.

The indicated data are taken from the note "The Cost of War" in No. 3
of *Golosa* from September 15, 1914, which cites calculations by German
Captain Henke on Germany's war expenditures per year and, in connection with
this, discusses the total expenditures of all warring countries.

* * MATERIALS FOR THE PAMPHLET "EUROPEAN WAR AND EUROPEAN SOCIALISM"
SEPTEMBER—OCTOBER 1914

Below are printed Lenin's excerpts from various books, articles and notes
in the foreign press on the theme of war, chiefly on the position of socialist
parties of various countries in connection with the declaration of war. All
materials, as is evident from their content, were intended by Lenin for his
pamphlet "The European War and European Socialism." All excerpts are provided
with remarks of various kinds by Lenin, which we reproduce in the margins.
The excerpts were made in two notebooks and on separate sheets of paper, while
part of the materials, as one can judge from the content of the pamphlet outline
(see p. 45), has not come down to us. Some marginal notes and underlinings
were made in the process of excerpting individual quotations, others—in red
and blue pencil, evidently in the process of a second review of the material
when compiling the outline of the pamphlet or for use of individual notes in
his lectures. These notes and underlinings are noted by us in footnotes.

On the cover of the first notebook, which has Lenin's heading "Notes on War,"
Lenin made a note for himself on the most important excerpts contained in the
notebook. The last page of this notebook was used by Lenin for recording a
number of books on various questions, chiefly on agriculture. In the second
notebook among the excerpts on war we also find Lenin's notes on the book by
E. Jordi *Der Elektromotor in der Landwirtschaft*, which he made in passing
while reviewing the literature. Both these books on agriculture and the notes
on the Jordi book are not reproduced here, since they have no bearing on the
main theme. On both covers of the second notebook there are pasted clippings
from Russian newspapers (p. 444). One clipping from *Sovremennoye Slovo*
about Plekhanov we do not reproduce, since there is an identical excerpt of
Lenin's from this note.

The text of the excerpts has been checked against the primary sources except
for Italian newspapers, which we did not have at our disposal, as they were
unavailable not only in Russian but also in German libraries. Unfortunately,
in connection with this, it was not possible to provide exhaustive notes on
individual excerpts from these newspapers.

* EXCERPTS FROM BOOKS ON WAR.

18417

*Weg zur Macht.* [(*The Path to Power*) by K. Kautsky]. *1

The question of the conquest of political power by the proletariat, of the
dictatorship of the proletariat, is ever more urgently placed on the agenda of
the historical epoch.

In any serious revolutionary movement, one must reckon with the possibility
of defeat. Only fools and traitors, however, can renounce hope for victory
(p. 18).

The document was written by Lenin in pencil on two sheets of letter paper.
—*Editor*